4 ms·

valid: you do not enjoy big company politics. (you’d rather have small company politics) valid: you want a sense of ownership and responsibility. if you don’t

valid: you do not enjoy big company politics. (you’d rather have small company politics) valid: you want a sense of ownership and responsibility. if you don’t perform, there is a noticeable effect on the company. valid: you want to be in an environment where others are just as committed as you to the success of the company. you want to treat your work as an endeavor, not as a means to a paycheck.

freewilly1040 8y ago
I think the implicit point is that if you are NOT a cofounder those feelings of ownership are unlikely to be matched by reality. As a non-founder you do not have the input and upside of an owner.
- jiveturkey 8y ago
  please note that i am referring to the sense of ownership and responsibility that comes from being one of the important cogs. this is reality in a startup. i don't mean it in a legal/financial sense, and i am not referring to any extrinsic reward, eg financial upside.
  - derefr 8y ago
    > this is reality in a startup Five-year-old well-funded-and-profitable companies with 50 employees, where you as employee #50 are just there to toil away writing some dumb CRUD backoffice code—are still referred to as "start-ups." And, in fact, since the other kind of startup dies more often than it succeeds and grows into this kind, most startups that are hiring at any given moment are this kind of startup.
    - jiveturkey 8y ago
      The context in this sub-thread is specifically seed or series A startups.
LaGrange 8y ago
> valid: you do not enjoy big company politics. (you’d rather have small company politics) Are there big investors? Welcome to big company politics. > valid: you want a sense of ownership and responsibility. if you don’t perform, there is a noticeable effect on the company. Responsibility? Sure. Ownership? Unless you're a founder or a big investor, haha, no. Unless you mean the corpo-speak "ownership," which is just another word for responsibility. Responsibility might make the work more emotionally rewarding, but it also makes the work more stressful, so I won't sell it for free. > valid: you want to be in an environment where others are just as committed as you to the success of the company. They may measure the "success" in terms wildly different from you, the employee, though. > you want to treat your work as an endeavor, not as a means to a paycheck. Actually while I might want something more, endeavour doesn't pay rent.

freewilly1040 8y ago

I think the implicit point is that if you are NOT a cofounder those feelings of ownership are unlikely to be matched by reality. As a non-founder you do not have the input and upside of an owner.

jiveturkey 8y ago
please note that i am referring to the sense of ownership and responsibility that comes from being one of the important cogs. this is reality in a startup. i don't mean it in a legal/financial sense, and i am not referring to any extrinsic reward, eg financial upside.
- derefr 8y ago
  > this is reality in a startup Five-year-old well-funded-and-profitable companies with 50 employees, where you as employee #50 are just there to toil away writing some dumb CRUD backoffice code—are still referred to as "start-ups." And, in fact, since the other kind of startup dies more often than it succeeds and grows into this kind, most startups that are hiring at any given moment are this kind of startup.
  - jiveturkey 8y ago
    The context in this sub-thread is specifically seed or series A startups.

LaGrange 8y ago

> valid: you do not enjoy big company politics. (you’d rather have small company politics) Are there big investors? Welcome to big company politics. > valid: you want a sense of ownership and responsibility. if you don’t perform, there is a noticeable effect on the company. Responsibility? Sure. Ownership? Unless you're a founder or a big investor, haha, no. Unless you mean the corpo-speak "ownership," which is just another word for responsibility. Responsibility might make the work more emotionally rewarding, but it also makes the work more stressful, so I won't sell it for free. > valid: you want to be in an environment where others are just as committed as you to the success of the company. They may measure the "success" in terms wildly different from you, the employee, though. > you want to treat your work as an endeavor, not as a means to a paycheck. Actually while I might want something more, endeavour doesn't pay rent.